This invention relates to a passenger conveyor such as a moving stairway, a moving walkway or the like, and, more particularly, to a passenger conveyor in which a construction of a body frame and a handrail driving device is improved for saving space of a building, etc.
In general a passenger conveyor comprises two kinds of moving bodies, that is, steps attached to continuously circulating endless belt or chain, and a pair of handrails which are symmetrically disposed on the sides of the steps so as to circulate and assist the passengers. The moving bodies, handrail driving devices, etc. are mounted on the body frame which is installed between the floors for entry and exit. The body frame has upper and lower chords as main frames, and the handrail driving device is mounted on the upper chord in a lateral relation.
Recently, there has been a demand to reduce the size of a passenger conveyor and, in particular, to reduce the overall width of the conveyor without reducing the transportation capacity, and without causing any problems or disadvantages. The whole width of the passenger conveyor includes the width of the steps, the body frame and the handrail driving device, and the distance between the body frame and an outer or side panel covering the body frame, the handrail driving device, and so on and is generally between 1.5-1.7 m. While it is most effective for spacesaving reasons to reduce the whole width of the passenger conveyor, such width reduction, however, is very difficult since the width of the steps can not be reduced in view of the transportation capacity; therefore, improvements on width reduction are directed to the remaining width other than the step width.
In order to achieve a width reduction of passenger conveyors, several proposals have been made such as, for example, the proposals contained in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-38503/1981 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 57-141379/1982.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-38503, a handrail driving device is disposed over a body frame made of a truss. In this construction, a deck and side panel covering the handrail driving device, the body frame, etc, is necessary to be elevated to a fairly high position to accommodate the handrail driving device. Since the handrail has a certain constant height to enable a gripping by a passenger, and the deck and outer or side panel covering the inside construction are non-transparent. When the deck is too high, the transparent portion of the balustrade is relatively small and, disadvantageously, the aesthetics afforded by the provision of transparent portions is not provided.
In, for example, Japanese Laid Open Application No. 57-141379/1982, a handrail driving device is proposed wherein an upper chord, which is one of a main frame construction of a body frame of a truss construction, is cut off by a length to provide opposite ends, between which a part of the upper chord is cut off, and the handrail driving device is inserted into the cut off portion, that is, between the opposite cut ends of the upper chord and is welded to the opposite cut ends of the chord. In this construction, the upper chord is disposed within the handrail driving device with respect to the width direction so that the whole width of the passenger conveyor is reduced. However, a disadvantage of this construction resides in the fact that the strength of the body frame decreases because the portion of the upper chord, designed to bear the large load, is removed, and thermal strains, caused by welding, are introduced into the body frame and the handrail driving device.
An object of the invention is to provide a passenger conveyor having an reduced width and capable of saving space.
In accordance with the present invention an upper surface of the body frame of a passenger conveyor is recessed in a vicinity of a boundary between a horizontal upper face portion and the inclined upper surface portion of the body frame so as to provide a recess suitable for accommodating a handrail driving device, and the handrail driving device is disposed in the recess so that the handrail driving device is positioned over the body frame at the recess whereby the whole width of the passenger conveyor is reduced.
According to further features of the invention, the body frame is made of a main frame having upper and lower horizontal sections and an inclined section interposed between the upper and lower horizontal sections, and two auxiliary frames respectively disposed on the upper and lower horizontal sections, with each integrated auxiliary frame and horizontal section of main frame forming a machine room therein and the recess is formed by a front end of the upper auxiliary frame and the upper horizontal section.